Konstanty Mierzejewski

Konstanty for me was a real find and a bit of a mystery because I am not quite sure how he is related to my family. I never remember hearing my dad or his sister mention him as I was growing up. All dad and his sister, Celia, ever mentioned as best as I can recall was their dad, Walter. I learned about Jan (or John) when first beginning my research and locating the 1923 Ellis Island manifest that showed Walter coming here with his wife Helen and two children, Walter Jr. and Celia. When I reviewed my father’s birth certificate and noted the address of 1763 Buckingham, a few things began to fall into place.

I located Konstanty’s World War I draft registration card. This registration had the 1763 Buckingham address. This piece of evidence leads me to believe that Walter and John had a brother. The draft registration card is dated 1918; and he provides his wife, Stephania, as his next of kin.

I am assuming that Konstanty is a brother to Walter and Jan (my great-uncle) based on the evidence of the address at 1763 Buckingham and the fact that each of these three men had lived within a close distance to each other and the fact that there are some similarities in data on the death certificates for Konstanty and Walter. However, I cannot yet prove this to be the case. I do believe there is some type of blood relationship. This is a screen snap of the family tree as I know it.

Per Konstanty’s death certificate, he was born in Poland on March 15, 1886. His parents are named on his death certificate as Julian Mierzejewski and Anna Borkowski. Walter’s death certificate indicates his parents names are John and Anna. I have evidence that Anna’s name may have been Brzozwska per information obtained from R. Stark on ancestry.com.

This is an area of future research for me, particularly to verify Anna’s family name. I have located a manifest for SS Prinz Oskar arriving in Philadelphia on March 23, 1912 that lists a Konstanty Mierzejewski. He was traveling from Brwilno, Poland and was to meet Boleslaw Rogalski. The notation on the manifest is that Boleslaw was here 5 years and that Konstanty heard from him last 3 months ago. The name of the relative is provided as Jan Mierzejewski in Brwilno.

Still, there are questions concerning the manifests and birthplaces or village locations that I’ve noted with John, Walter, and Konstanty.

Manifests that I’ve located for Walter and John indicate that they’ve originated from near Tomasze, Poland. Konstanty’s indicate Brwilno. And R Stark has indicated Podlanski as Konstanty’s birthplace. I’ve mapped these regions.

Konstanty married Stephania Dykowski. Stephania was born in Pennsylvania, and it seems as if Konstanty had settled there for about seven or eight years. Per the 1920 census, Konstanty arrived here in 1903 and first four children were born in Pennsylvania per the 1920 census:

Edward, born 1908
Bertha, born 1911
Stanislaus, born 1912
Sigismund, born 1915

I am wondering whether Jan and Konstanty both migrated to Pennsylvania together for a time as John’s first child, Helen, was also born in Pennsylvania, although I have not yet found Helen’s birth location.

The 1920 census lists their address as 410 Detroit Avenue. This put the three Mierzejewski brothers in the same neighborhood, within walking distance of each other.

Konstanty’s wife, Stephania, was born in Gallitzen, Pennsylvania per the 1920 census data I located on ancestry.com. It was likely Konstanty married after his arrival to the US in 1903. The 1920 census shows Konstanty’s address as 410 N. Detroit Ave.; however, when his fifth child, Jerome, was born on November 3, 1920, the family was living at 1652 Indiana Street, approximately a mile away. Jerome was born prematurely and died November 4, 1920 and was baptized and interred through St. Stanislaus parish.

The Indiana Street address is about a mile away from his previous Detroit Ave. address.

Per the 1930 census, Konstanty had moved to the east side of Toledo, to 1305 Camp Street. By 1930, he and Stephania had three more children:

Raymond, born about 1923
Violet, born about 1925
Pauline, born about 1927

Additionally, the 1930 census shows that his eldest daughter, was married to George Smith. Bertha and her husband as well as their grandson, George Smith Jr. were living with Konstanty and Stephania. The 1930 census states that Konstanty owns the home on Camp Street and it is valued at $2,000.

By 1942, Konstanty shows an address of 545 Earl Street as indicated on his World War II draft registration card.

He was a member of the Polish National Alliance, 1139. Services will be Saturday at 8:15 a.m. in the F. L. Gasiorowski Funeral Home, and at 9 a.m. in Good Shepherd Church. Burial will be in Calvary Cemetery.

What surprises me is that if Walter and John were brothers of Konstanty, that they were not mentioned in the obituary. Walter died a year later in 1946 and John died at the end of 1945. I had not heard that Walter and John had sisters or a brother; but I was not born until 1959. However, I do believe there is some type of blood relationship given the fact that Konstanty had resided with John for some time and remained in the Kuschwantz neighborhood for a period of time, within a mile of both Walter and John. Would there have been a rift that caused some separation between the brothers? Or was there another type of blood relationship (cousin)?

Konstanty was buried in Calvary Cemetery. Below is a transcription of the burial record from Calvary: